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Self-inflicted immobilisation
A robot which eliminates itself either accidentally or on purpose (via several different ways) has achieved a self-inflicted immobilisation. This differs from hostile immobilisations (which are inflicted by enemy robots), malfunctions (in robot design or engineering) and hazard immobilisations (which are inflicted by House Robots or arena hazards, such as the floor flipper and spikes). Self-inflicted immobilisations are often referred to as a robot committing suicide. Definition The key term in deciding if an immobilisation has been self-inflicted or not is to determine whether there has been an avoidable error. An avoidable error cannot be in design or engineering, nor a broad error such as a Gauntlet route or choosing to take on a certain robot. They must be concise, specific events which directly cause an immobilisation. Examples are listed below. Arena Hamper Often robots became immobilised due to some arena component (not hazards, these were considered immobilisations), by crashing into a wall or getting stuck in part of an arena. . Self-Inflicted *In the Stock Car Trial, Demolisher crashed into a wall at top speed, flipping itself over. With no other robot involved, and Demolisher's own avoidable action responsible for its immobilisation, this is considered a self-inflicted immobilisation. *Similarly, when both Kat 3 and The Steel Avenger got their axes stuck in the arena floor, this was an avoidable error and had it solely cost them the match, it would have been designated here. Not Self-Inflicted *Contrarily, when Vector of Armageddon attempted the Gauntlet in Heat E of Series 1, it became stuck attempting the second ramp. The reason for the immobilisation was that Vector of Armageddon's ground clearance was too low. Therefore, the robot's design meant that it would never have been able to traverse that second ramp. Getting wedged was not an avoidable error, and this is therefore not a case of self-inflicted immobilisation. *''NB: Obviously, it can be argued that taking the ramp at all was an error. However, this is disproved by analysing the facts: Vector of Armageddon did succeed at the first ramp (and was committed to the chosen route), and nearly all robots had succeeded in taking the ramp. Therefore, it is not reasonable to believe that taking the ramp would have ended in immobilisation. Stranded To be stranded, a robot has entered a position where it cannot move. The most common cases of being stranded are early grills and the Pit of Oblivion. Self-Inflicted *Most infamously, when Killerhurtz drove across the arena and into the pit, there was no possible clash with Cerberus that could have caused the pitting, with Cerberus still on the other side of the arena. John Reid's actions were therefore an avoidable error, and Killerhurtz's pitting is considered self-immobilisation. *In a different take on things, when Cassius 2 attempted to pit Pussycat in Heat M, Cassius overshot the mark in its attempt to do so and fell into the pit. Despite Pussycat being involved in the tussle, Cassius made an avoidable error by putting too much acceleration into its push. Therefore, where a robot pits itself whilst attempting to pit another, it is considered self-inflicted immobilisation. Not Self-Inflicted *When Razer drove itself into the pit in Series 5 whilst pitting Widow's Revenge, whilst it immobilised itself technically, it did not do so to its detriment in the competition, as Widow's Revenge was already immobile and officially eliminated. With the elimination confirmed, Razer's driving into the pit was not an error. *When Stinger bounced into the pit in Series 3, it may have been classed as an avoidable error by driving such a difficult-to-control machine near the pit. However, when Stinger fell in, it did so by driving into a charging Mace 2 and bouncing off. Therefore, it is impossible to tell whether Stinger's trajectory change was due to Mace 2 (making it a hostile immobilisation), or due to Stinger's own infamous lack of control. With such doubt, the battle cannot be considered a self-inflicted immobilisation. Fire When a robot is breaks down after catching fire, it is deemed to have been immobilised by fire. Self-Inflicted *Terror Bull chose to light its tail on fire in its Series 4 battle with Raizer Blade. This turned out to be an erroneous decision as Terror Bull's motors burnt out. *Similarly, Disc-O-Inferno spun around repeatedly on the fire in the round two clash with Killer Carrot 2 in Series 6, Heat L. It came very close to immobilisation and was only saved by Refbot. Not Self-Inflicted *Most immobilisations by fire, although in the same method, are not self-inflicted. Technophobic burst into flames in Series 3, but only after it was pushed onto the flames by Pitbull. Being pushed was not Technophobic's choice, and was therefore not an avoidable error. Overflip Although most thought to be classed as a malfunction, an overflip is when a robot's weapon malfunctions or contains too much power so that a robot immobilises itself through this. Self-Inflicted Not Self-Inflicted Notable Occurrences 'Series 1' 'Series 2' *Plunderbird 2 (Heat K, Gauntlet) Plunderbird drove into the pit, possibly to deliberately avoid the house robots. Went through regardless. *G.B.H. (Semi-Final 2, Gauntlet) G.B.H. purposely drove into the pit to ensure it had progressed far enough to go through. The team at first claimed it was accidental, but later admitted it was done purposely. *Cassius (Grudge Matches, Judgement Day) Rex Garrod accidentally drove into the pit while trying to shove Mortis in. *Napalm (Grudge Matches, Judgement Day 2) Drove onto the lip of the pit while escaping from Mortis. Its weight eventually shifted, causing it to fall in. 'Series 3' *Milly-Ann Bug (Heat D, Round 1) Milly Ann Bug overshot a charge to push Bumblebot into the pit, and fell in itself. *Eric (Heat J, Round 1) Eric accidentally reversed into the pit while trying to finish off King Buxton. *Wild Willy (Heat L, Round 1) Dominated the majority of the fight against Flip Flop Fly, then drove into the pit and was eliminated. *Cassius 2 (Heat M, Round 2) Cassius 2 accidentally reversed into the pit while trying to push Pussycat in. Major shock of the third wars. *Killerhurtz (Heat N, Round 1) Drove into the pit. The team claimed it was accidental, stating that they mistook the pit for a black floor panel. Most likely to be the most infamous of all self-inflicted immobilisations. *Chaos 2 (The First World Championship, Round 2) George Francis drove into the pit to avoid taking further damage from Razer. 'Series 4' *Invertabrat (Heat F, Round 1) Inverterbrat's downward-firing flipper jammed open, suspending the robot's wheels off the ground and immobilizing it. *Terror Bull (Heat P, Round 2) Drove over the flame pit to set its tail on fire, but this caused its motors to burn out. 'Extreme Series 1' *Aggrobot 3 (Mayhem) Beached on its own lifting mechanism after flipping eventual winner Splinter. *The Executioner (Wild Card Warriors) Pressed the pit release right away, only to drive in seconds later. *The Spider (Mayhem) After starting well by pushing Napalm around, The Spider drove over the flame pit where its electronics instantly burned out. *Gemini (Mayhem) One half of Gemini fired its flipper and fell backwards, perched on top of its wheely bar. The other half became stuck in the same position while attempting to free its twin. *Chaos 2 (The Second World Championship, Round 1) In trying to flip Mastiff into the pit, Chaos 2 missed, jolted forward and fell in itself. 'Series 5' *Chaos 2 (Heat A, Final) Chaos 2 flipped itself over, and couldn't self-right due to damage its flipper had sustained earlier on. As its opponent S.M.I.D.S.Y. was also ruled immobile, the match was re-fought, with Chaos 2 being the victor. *Shredder (Heat C, Round 1) Drove into the pit after an aggressive effort. 'Series 6' *Crushtacean (Heat C, Round 2) Drove into the pit despite appearing to have the upper hand against the former champ. *Infernal Contraption (Heat E, Round 1) Severely damaged by 259. Drove into the pit to avoid taking further damage. *Thermidor 2 (Heat F, Round 1) Lost drive to one wheel. Counted out, and drove down the pit after taking punishment from the House Robots. *Spam (Heat H, Round 2) A mistimed charge at Spawn Again left Spam careening straight into the pit. *Dominator 2 (Semi-Final 2, Round 2) Veered into the pit after Tornado nearly went in. 'Extreme Series 2' *Direct Action (New Blood Championship Heat C, Round 1) Lost drive to one wheel, and drove into the pit. *Flybot (Featherweight Championship, Round 1) Pulled over by the force of its own lifting arm, and fell into the pit. *Eddie Evolution (Featherweight Championship, Round 1) After floundering near the edge of the pit, Eddie Evolution eventually drove itself in. *PulverizeR (European Championship, Round 1 Drove into the pit due to a damaged speed controller. 'Series 7' *The Stag (Heat C, Round 1) Reversed into the pit while evading IG-88. *Disconstructor (Heat O, Round 1) Hit the pit release button and drove into the pit. *Atomic (Semi-Final 2, Round 2) Atomic tried to flip Typhoon 2 but it hit the arena angle grinder instead and flipped itself onto its back, with the flipper jammed open. It was then battered by Typhoon 2 and was eliminated. *Bigger Brother & Firestorm 5 (All-Stars, Round 1) Both robots drove into the pit after spending the majority of the match attacking the house robots. Notable Occurrences in International Series 'US Series 2' *Brute (Heat C, Round 2) Drove into the pit. *The Gap (Heat D, Round 2) One of its wheels was disabled; swerved into the pit. *Rosie the Riveter (Grand Final, Round 1) Drove into the pit while trying to charge Panzer Mk 4 *Propeller Head (Grand Final, Round 1) Drove into the pit. 'Nickelodeon' *Basenji (Annihilator, Round 2) Lost control and drove into the pit. 'Dutch Series 1' *Philipper (Heat A, Round 2) Reversed into the pit after failing to flip Bamm Bamm out of the arena. Category:Terminology